Michael Olise has just become the first player to assist five goals at a World Cup since Thomas Hassler in 1994 – yet the 24-year-old Bayern Munich forward barely celebrates, avoids interviews, and has no sportswear or boot deals. As France prepare for Saturday's last-16 tie against Paraguay, the man setting their attack alight remains something of an enigma.
Born in London to a French-Algerian mother, Mina, and a Nigerian father, Vincent, Olise was already on Chelsea's books when his primary school sports teacher, Daniel Coker, first spotted him. “The sports coaches came to me one day and said have you seen this boy… in year two?” Coker recalled. “When I saw him play… I knew that he was going to be something special.” At Dr Triplett's CE Primary School in Hayes, Olise excelled in every sport he tried. “At age 10 and 11 that's when I'd get him in everything I could,” said Coker. “He'd come and have a go and just blow us out the water with how good he was.”
“Michael Olise became the first player since 1994 to assist five goals at a World Cup.”
But even then, the young Olise shunned the limelight. “Michael was a quiet and shy boy. He gave so many assists to our team, he'd score loads of goals, but he didn't used to celebrate, he just used to get back straight in and want to go again,” Coker told BBC Sport. “He's not one of those ones to dwell on it and take that moment in. He didn't like the limelight. So when I see that on camera now, when he doesn't celebrate or he runs back, it's just what he's always done.”
Headteacher Rachel Anderson remembers it being hard to get Olise back into class after football, particularly if his team hadn't won. “He would be still kicking the ball around the classroom and it would be like, 'Come on Michael, it's enough now',” she said. “I think other schools used to sigh and look quite depressed when we turned up with Michael on our team for so many things because they knew they didn't stand much of a chance. He was a perfectionist and over-analysed everything.”
Having moved from Reading to Crystal Palace, then to Bayern Munich, Olise has become one of the world's best players – recording 25 goals and 28 assists for the Bundesliga champions last season. Yet his reserved nature is not arrogance, those who know him say – it's just “Michael being Michael”. As France face Paraguay, the man who loves chess and barely celebrates goals might not have much choice but to embrace the spotlight if he carries on this way.